Tag Archives: Gavin Carr

Bath Festival 2013: Berlioz at the Forum

I went to only one Bath Festival concert this year because most of the other interesting ones were around the first weekend of the Festival when I was away or busy. There were certainly some other concerts I’d have gone … Continue reading

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Bruckner and the snoring hummingbird

During rehearsals our choirmaster, Gavin Carr, told about the viral YouTube video of a hummingbird apparently snoring. I’m not sure quite how this was intended to inform our performance of Bruckner’s Mass in F minor – not at least by … Continue reading

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Svyat! Svyat! Svyat!

Singing familiar texts in an unfamiliar language can make them feel altogether different. I know very little Russian, so there was a lot of grappling with the Old Church Slavonic texts of Rachmaninov’s Vespers (strictly the ‘All-Night Vigil’), which I … Continue reading

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a colossal nightingale

This was Heine’s description of Berlioz and I can’t improve on it, so I’m borrowing it for the title of this post. A few years ago I learnt some of Les nuits d’été, including Le spectre de la rose. The … Continue reading

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in the gallery – or not?

I went to hear Bath Minerva Choir conducted by Gavin Carr perform their seasonal concert, An English Christmas, in St Swithin’s Church, Walcot. This was the first time I’d been to a concert in this church (I gather that they … Continue reading

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the view from choir 8

I’ve written before about singing in Spem in Alium, I admit partly to see if it resulted in an invitation to sing the work in Tallis’ anniversary year of 2005. But I had to wait until now, with a performance … Continue reading

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La bonne chanson

Just a brief note that I went to Gavin Carr’s recital earlier this month. As someone who sings for Gavin from time to time (watch this space) I won’t offer any sort of review, just a notice. The first half … Continue reading

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avoiding a run chase

My last performance before Christmas was the Messiah with Chorus Angelorum and members of the Bath Philharmonia in Ottery St Mary. I worked out that I must have sung at least nine performances of this now (here’s an account of … Continue reading

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Savitri

I did something rather out of the ordinary last weekend and sang in a private performance of this one-act opera by Holst. I have rather mixed feelings about Holst’s music in general; there are delicate pieces such as the Nunc … Continue reading

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as I said to the ondiste …

There are about 20 such people, and I got the chance to meet one of them during the Chorus Angelorum’s trip to Turin to perform Messiaen’s Trois Petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine. The ondes Martenot is an instrument which … Continue reading

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